1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for acquiring an operation screen from a Web server connected to a network, a control method for the information processing apparatus, and a storage medium storing a program thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been conventionally proposed a technique in which when the authentication application of an information processing apparatus outputs an authentication screen, and performs authentication processing based on authentication information accepted from a user, and then the authentication succeeds, the functions of the information processing apparatus are provided for the user.
As such authentication processing, for example, there is keyboard authentication in which the user uses a keyboard to input authentication information such as a user name and a password to a displayed operation screen and authentication processing is performed using the authentication information.
There is also card authentication as such authentication processing, in which the user holds an IC card over the USB card reader of the information processing apparatus or the like, or inserts the IC card into the reader, and authentication processing is performed by reading authentication information stored in the IC card.
It is well known that it is possible to switch between keyboard authentication and IC card authentication.
There has been conventionally provided an information processing apparatus including a Web browser function within itself to browse a Web site provided by a Web server.
For such an information processing apparatus, there is known a method in which the information processing apparatus is connected with a Web server on a network, and the Web browser of the information processing apparatus displays an authentication screen provided by the Web server to cause the user to perform an operation for authentication. If the authentication processing succeeds, it is possible to provide the user with the functions of the information processing apparatus.
In this case, the information processing apparatus requests an authentication screen from the Web server connected to the network, and the Web application of the Web server responds to the request from the information processing apparatus, and transmits, to the information processing apparatus, contents for causing the Web browser to display the authentication screen. The Web browser of the information processing apparatus analyzes the received contents, and displays an operation screen.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-279974 discloses the following method. That is, when the user inputs authentication information (a user name and a password) to an authentication screen (login screen) displayed on a Web browser, the Web browser notifies a Web server of the input information. Upon receiving the notification, the Web application of the Web server notifies an information processing apparatus of authentication information, and inquires the information processing apparatus about the authentication information. When the user is authenticated, the information processing apparatus notifies the Web server of the authentication result, thereby performing authentication processing.
It is desirable to handle authentication information such as a user name and a password as confidential information that is unknown to third parties.
In the conventional techniques, authentication information that should be handled as confidential information is exchanged between a Web server and an information processing apparatus, which is not preferable for users who want to obtain a higher level of security. Furthermore, unwanted traffic appears on a network.